Singapore - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the city state has to prepare for tough times ahead and some years of slower economic growth in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

"So let us prepare for a very tough year ahead, and let us be psychologically ready to think of several slow years after that," media reports quoted Lee as saying at a meeting on Sunday with unionists and employers.

Singapore  - Singapore police arrested a 19-year-old man on Saturday in connection with an SMS hoax suggesting a terrorist attack in the city-state, media reports said Sunday.

The text message, which had several variations, said terrorists were planning to bomb the Bugis area and that there were many policemen there. It also advised the public to avoid the area, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.

On Friday, an announcement was made by Singapore Telecommunications under which it confirmed that it will commence selling the HTC Dream or Google mobile phone in Singapore from 21st February. This will make Singapore the second market in Asia to witness their launch.

Since the HTC phone comes with preloaded software such as Google Web Search, Gmail and Google Calendar, it is more commonly known as Google phone. Via this new phone, SingTel will also provide subscribers with video-on-demand content.

Singapore - Singapore share prices fell 2.11 per cent

Singapore  - The first man in Singapore to be sentenced for having sex with an underage prostitute under a tougher law had his one-year jail term reduced Friday to nine months on appeal, media reports said.

In December, a district court had initially sentenced the 55-year-old man to one year in jail for having sex with a 16-year-old prostitute.

Singapore  - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long said the city-state's financial system must remain open to the world although the presence of foreign banks poses potential risks in the current economic downturn.

"While we take reasonable safeguards, we must stay open to the world," Lee said Thursday night at a dinner to celebrate Standard Chartered Bank's 150th anniversary in Singapore. "Walling ourselves in does not mean that we would be safe; it just means we will starve."